LemonLime
by GundamAce
Summary: When Ranma finds a Taboo book hidden in the Tendo home, he starts a strange quest to discover his own sexual identity.
1. A Guide For Masters

NOTICE: None of these characters belong to me and I haven't made a single cent by writing this story! I have no money, don't sue me!  
  
NOTICE II: If you're offended by sex, bondage, sadism, masochism, dominance, or submission, then you don't know what you're missing! You also shouldn't be reading this story!  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
All was quiet at the Tendo dojo as the sun broke out over the Nermia ward. This was not uncommon, as the louder residents of that household usually don't get out of bed until much later. Unfortunately for the tranquillity of the early morning, however, the normal routine of the household was not being followed today. Ranma, arguably one of the noisiest and most destructive individuals in all of Japan, was stalking quietly about the house this morning.  
  
Why, you may ask, is this? The answer is simple. Just the previous night Happosai had unleashed a new and horrible technique into the unfortunately very large vocabulary of such techniques Ranma already possessed. Of course no great power comes without its price. The price in this case being a rather naughty underwear show conducted for one sex obsessed old master by one martial arts obsessed young aquatransexual. Unfortunately for the natural order of the universe, Ranma was both stubborn and proud.  
  
This great technique, called the "War of Heaven", could defeat an army of masters if properly executed. Unfortunately Happosai couldn't properly execute it. If he could, Ranma would have seen it performed about a hundred times by now, and then both fools would be throwing the technique back and fourth by mid-day.  
  
Now some people would be asking how this could be a bad thing. The answer to this question is a bit harder to perceive than the answer to the one previous. You see if Ranma had mastered the technique the hard way, then he wouldn't have gotten up at the crack of dawn to search the house for the ancient text that described its use. And if he hadn't gotten up so early to conduct his extensive search, then perhaps Kasumi would have arrived in the kitchen to begin breakfast before the questing boy could divert his attention to the pantry. And if Ranma had never made it to the pantry, then he wouldn't have discovered the strange text that he was currently lifting from its hiding place below the pantry floorboards. And so, if Happosai had remembered his stupid "War of Heaven" technique, perhaps Ranma's eyes would never have crossed the taboo book that he had discovered. A book entitled…  
  
"THE SECRETS OF CONTROL – A GUIDE FOR MASTERS"  
  
A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by GundamAce  
  
Part I-A of the Lemon/Lime continuity  
  
(Insert Theme Music of Choice Here)  
  
Ranma held his breath as he lifted the script from its resting-place. He turned it over in his hands a few times after carefully reading the title. The book wasn't what he was expecting. It was old, but not ancient. It looked more like something he'd expect to uncover at a used bookstore than something from which powerful martial arts techniques were learned.  
  
In Ranma's experience, techniques usually came written in the form of scrolls, not professionally published and western style bound books. The title, however, belied its innocent exterior. It was a guide for masters.  
  
It was also hidden, which means that its contents must be important. 'Besides', Ranma figured, 'I've searched the rest of the bloody house already, and this is the closest thing I've found'.  
  
A smile crossed Ranma's lips. Soon the old fart would learn the true power of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. "I got ya this time, you dried up old pervert! I'm gonna kick your butt with your own secret techniques!"  
  
The smile faded into a look of ninja like readiness as Ranma scanned the room to ensure he had not been discovered. The book quickly disappeared into Ranma's shirt as he leapt outside and onto the roof to avoid being caught with his prize. It's a fortunate thing he did too; otherwise Kasumi would have surely spotted him as she came down to make breakfast.  
  
As it was, all Kasumi discovered was the mess in the pantry. Her eyes instantly became glued to the pried open hatch that had once been securely hidden by a large bag of rice. The eldest Tendo daughter felt her heart sink into her stomach as she realized that the hole was now empty.  
  
"…oh my…"  
  
* * *  
  
Once safely on the roof, Ranma sat down and joyfully pulled out his prize.  
  
"I got it!" He whispered excitedly, "I finally got away with getting one of these stupid techniques without being hit by it!"  
  
Ranma opened the book and began quickly thumbing through it. The first realization that he came to was that it was full of pictures. This wasn't particularly out of the ordinary because most instruction manuals do, in fact, possess illustrations to help teach more visually oriented students. What was unusual was the fact that these were photographs and not drawings. This is not something usually associated with a technique that hasn't been practiced in three hundred years.  
  
The pictures were made stranger still by the fact that they didn't seem to depict any type of martial arts at all. Some of the images contained images of strikes, weapons, and other such trademarks of the art, but none were related to a martial art practice. Of course Ranma was having trouble grasping that little piece of evidence because something of far greater importance had caught his eye. Ranma had noticed that there was an awful lot of exposed flesh in those pictures.  
  
It took Ranma's brain a few minutes to start working again, but when it did he remembered that anything owned by Happosai had to be really perverted. The pictures, Ranma figured, must have been added later. Happosai probably used them to power up his ki while he was practicing the move or something. That had to be it. The secrets of the War of Heaven must be contained in the writing!  
  
And so Ranma read…  
  
"…before letting her orgasm…" Nope.  
  
"…a good technique is to start from the top of the ass and work down…" Wrong technique I think.  
  
"…blindfolds, restraints and riding crops…" Uh…  
  
The book closed. Ranma turned about as red as his favorite shirt. Once again he had to spend a few moments re-establishing a hold on his thought processes.  
  
"Oh man! What is this thing? I must have grabbed the wrong book. I gotta put this thing back before someone notices it's missing." Ranma cursed as he leapt off the roof and rushed back into the kitchen where he promptly realized that his intended path was impeded.  
  
* * *  
  
Kasumi was kneeling in the pantry by the hidden trap door as the skilled martial artist stumbled over his own feet in an effort to avoid colliding with her. She turned just in time to watch him expertly alter his course so that he instead decimated the island in the middle of the kitchen.  
  
"Oh! H-hello Ranma. I… um… uh… Can I help you?" Kasumi fidgeted and tried to position herself between Ranma and the now empty hole.  
  
"Huh? Oh! Sorry about that. I… uh… I just came in for some… um… some hot  
  
water! Yeah! That's it!"  
  
"Ah. It's on the… stove… Ranma, you're… um… not a… not a girl at the moment. What… uh… what's the water for? …if you don't mind me asking?"  
  
For a moment Ramna froze like a deer caught in headlights. "For? Um… For later! I… I need it for later. …heh heh…" Okay, that was a weak lie. Any minute now the whole family's going to bust in here and start laughing at me. Akane's going to call me a pervert, and then I'm going to go cloud surfing again. I hate days like this.  
  
"Oh. All right then."  
  
"Well, um… thanks!" Thank God for small miracles. "I guess I'll just be going now then…" Ranma turned to rush out the back door.  
  
"Ranma, wait!" Kasumi's voice caused Ranma to jump right out of his skin.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Um… That is… I seem to have misplaced a book of mine… a cookbook. I… I don't suppose you've seen it lying around anywhere? It was an old western style hardback?"  
  
The gears began turning in Ranma's mind. "…Western style hardback? Um… no… I, er, um… haven't seen anything at all like that around here." He feebly stuttered out as he shifted the position of the book to conceal it better.  
  
"Oh… okay then… I, um… should get back to looking then." Kasumi stammered.  
  
The obvious embarrassment playing across the usually unshakable young woman's body wasn't lost on the heir to the school of anything goes.  
  
"Riiiight… I'm just going to take my kettle and leave then. Good luck with that whole cookbook thing".  
  
Ranma backed out of the door watching the eldest Tendo daughter squirm. Eventually he turned to leap over the compound wall and make his escape.  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma ended his Saotome secret technique under the water canal bridge where he began to pace at a feverish rate. Images of Kasumi in tight leather danced in his head as he tried to pull his mind back together.  
  
"OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod."  
  
Eventually he stopped and pulled out the book. The realness of the item seemed to calm him a bit while strangely filling him with apprehension at the same time.  
  
"It couldn't be," he said as he looked down at the offending piece of literature. "Not Kasumi! She's the only sane one in the house! I must have misread it. Yeah! That's it! I misread it! Of course!" he reasoned as he flipped open the book to confirm that it was in fact simply a harmless stack of paper.  
  
The page that greeted him sported a picture of a naked woman tied to a pole while a man in a latex mask was slapping her inner thigh with a cat-o-nine tails. Ranma briefly shuddered at the instrument depicted.  
  
"Nope. Didn't misread it. Damn! Now what do I do?"  
  
Forlornly the boy plopped down under the bridge to have a good long think. He glanced once more back down at the picture only to have his face color yet again this morning. "Why couldn't you have been a cookie recipe or something?" he muttered as he thumbed his way through the text.  
  
"I guess it's not that bad. I could just tell her that I found it lying around and didn't read it or something," he lamented as he continued to browse the pages. After a few seconds he stopped his page flipping and once again attained a nice tomato red hue. "Oh my…"  
  
* * *  
  
It was already dark by the time our hero got back to the Tendo house. After an entire day of hard contemplation and frequent blushes, Ranma had finally decided that this coming confrontation was unavoidable. That's why he was now sitting in a tree branch just outside Kasumi's window.  
  
"At least this is Kasumi," the boy told himself. "If it was Nabiki I could just kiss my freedom and dignity goodbye". And with that the boy hopped to the roof of the Tendo home and flipped himself over the edge so he could knock on the eldest Tendo's window.  
  
* * *  
  
Guests were a rare thing in Kasumi's room, but that didn't mean she wasn't familiar with the protocols and procedures associated with greeting guests. Thus she had no reservations about inviting in the nice boy who was polite enough to knock to gain entry, even if he was doing so upon her second story window while suspended upside down from the roof of her home.  
  
Kasumi had a polite smile on as the boy came through the rather imaginative entry way. "Why hello Ranma. Can I help you with something?" she gretted.  
  
"Um… yeah… uh… We, uh… we need to talk." Ranma stuttered as he tried to summon a bit more courage than he thought he'd need.  
  
"Of course Ranma. Please, come in."  
  
"Uh… thanks… Um… look… uh…" Ranma continued to stammer as he desperately tried to remember the nice speech he had planned out under the bridge only half an hour ago.  
  
"Is everything all right? You look troubled? Why don't you come here and have a seat?" Kasumi asked as she had a seat on the bed and innocently patted the section next to her in invitation.  
  
Upon noticing the seemingly innocent gesture giving by the seemingly innocent young and somewhat underdressed book owner, who was sitting on her seemingly innocent four poster queen sized bed, a look of utter terror spread across Ranma's face. "No! ...uh… I mean, that's all right Kasumi. I'm fine. Really," Ranma blurted out as he began to nervously scratch the base of his pigtail.  
  
Kasumi noticed the distress in his voice, but couldn't fathom what had caused it. "What's the matter, Ranma? Is it Akane? Did you two have another fight?"  
  
"A-Akane? Um… no. It's not like that. I uh,… that is to say… I…" The nervous scratching became more intense and the boy looked to the floor to hide the huge blush that was spreading across his face. "I found your book." With that Ranma reached into his shirt and removed the object in question. He quietly placed it on the foot of the girl's bed.  
  
"Oh… Oh my… Oh Ranma, it's… Oh my…" Kasumi took her turn at stuttering as she too became a healthy shade of red. "Did you read any of it?" she finally asked.  
  
With the confession out of the way, Ranma began to calm. He took the offered seat on the bed and began to try and explain things. "I'm sorry Kasumi. I thought it was that old pervert's secret technique. I didn't mean to…"  
  
"It's okay Ranma. I'm not mad… Just please don't tell father. I don't think he'd understand." Kasumi sighed. This discovery wasn't nearly as frightening as some of the scenarios she had imagined in the past.  
  
"He wouldn't be the only one," Ranma whispered under his breath without thinking. Kasumi seemed to hear him anyway.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Um, are… are you really like this?" was all the pigtailed youth could think to respond with.  
  
"I… I do have a bit of a… curiosity," she confessed.  
  
"Oh. So you've never, um, you know?"  
  
"No! Not much really… Not today anyway." By this point it was Kasumi who was matching Ranma's shirt. She didn't really want to admit these things, but she just couldn't bring herself to lie to her future brother-in-law.  
  
"Ah… Um… Do you know… that is… are people really? You know! Are there people that are really like this?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Yes. I know several, in fact," the young woman answered. It clearly hadn't been the series of accusations she'd been expecting though. She was a little put off by the direction the conversation seemed to be headed. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"It… it, uh… Man, this is hard…" Ranma replied while refreshing his blush.  
  
At this Kasumi began to smile. "Oh, is that the problem! Well, I think you're in the wrong room for that. Akane is down the hall silly!" she joked as a series of mirthful giggles began to overtake her.  
  
Ranma's flush deepened from further embarrassment and perhaps a bit of frustration. "No! Not that! Talking! Talking about this is hard!"  
  
At Ranma's outburst Kasumi lost control of herself and her soft giggles became full blown laughter. It took her a few moments to calm herself before she noticed the hurt look on her guests face. "I'm sorry Ranma. I'll take this more seriously if you want me to."  
  
"Thanks." Ranma replied as most of his anger and embarrassment left him.  
  
"You're interested, aren't you?" Kasumi asked as she took the book from it's resting place and examined the cover.  
  
"Well… It's just that I've had so little control over… you know… I'd like to be on top of things for once," Ranma revealed in what he obviously felt was a heartfelt confession. Judging by the extreme difficulty Kasumi was having with trying to hold in another fit of laughter, he assumed it wasn't as well worded as it probably should have been.  
  
"What?" he asked somewhat angrily.  
  
"Sorry. Sorry. It's just that you're making this really difficult for me." Kasumi responded while she tried vainly to keep from laughing at the boy's unintentional pun.  
  
"Sheesh! I might as well be talkin' to Pops' about this!" the boy lamented as Kasumi ran through another round of hard laughter. The reference to Ranma's father seemed to sober her up quickly though.  
  
"No. I… I don't think that would be a good idea," she said finally as the last bits of mirth vanished from her.  
  
Ranma smiled at the thought of the panda hearing about this. "You're probably right. He'd probably try to turn it into a weird training exercise or something," he admitted with a few chuckles of his own.  
  
"Why don't you borrow the book? That way you'll have a better idea what questions you want to ask," Kasumi recommended as she passed the book over to the younger boy.  
  
"Um, thanks. Thanks for…" Ranma stammered as embarrassment crept upon him once again. He was saved from further speech though as Kasumi cut him off.  
  
"It's okay Ranma. Just try not to let anyone know what it is your reading." Ranma nodded his head in understanding and quietly left the way he had come in. Kasumi watched him vanish into the shadows before climbing back into her bed with a smile on her face.  
  
* * *  
  
Well, that's it for Part I-A. The rest of part one is sitting on my hard drive in script format and I'll probably be getting to it in the near future. So far I have six parts planned and I'll probably break each of those into four sections so I can get updates out a little quicker. I hope you enjoy the lemon/lime series. Please feel free to leave criticism comments, and praise, lots of praise.  
  
GundamAce 


	2. Nabiki's Plan

NOTICE: None of these characters belong to me and I haven't made a single cent by writing this story! I have no money, don't sue me!  
  
NOTICE II: If you're offended by sex, bondage, sadism, masochism, dominance, or submission, then you don't know what you're missing! You also shouldn't be reading this story!  
  
Over the next few days Ranma and the book became as one. That's not to say that our hero's study went uninterrupted. The first disturbance came in the form of one Genma Saotome who, of course, objected to Ranma reading anything at all. The perpetually stupid panda soon gave up his quest to separate the boy from his literature when Kasumi made it painfully clear that there would be a direct correlation between the amount of time Ranma read and the amount of food on Genma's plate. Genma may not have Nabiki's head for numbers, but his math skills were good enough for him to realize the importance of his son's enlightenment. It's a good thing he never found out what exactly Ranma had his nose buried in.  
  
Next there was Akane. She didn't object to him reading at all really, but Ranma did spend a great deal of his time at high altitudes because he wouldn't tell her what his new favorite book was about. Perhaps this was for the best, as Ranma found he rather enjoyed reading in the privacy provided by his near escape velocity flights. That's not to say that it didn't sting a little when he landed, but If Ryoga could withstand his breaking point training, then Ranma could withstand kissing the concrete every now and then for the sake of his own art.  
  
Speaking of Ryoga, he, Moose, Shampoo, and the Kuno siblings got in the way too. Of course, they've always been a distraction. They probably didn't even realize Ranma was reading when they interrupted. Not that it really mattered. As distractions in Ranma's life go, his regular admirers and rivals are some of the milder and more easily handled. At least in there case Ranma has some previous experience.  
  
The last, and really the most interesting distraction, is the one that starts this story. For had this distraction not sprang up, perhaps nothing would have ever come of Ranma reading the book. Unfortunately fate had a cruel joke to play on the world, for the final distraction was Nabiki Tendo. Strange that it turns out to be Nabiki's quest for knowledge and not Ranma's that propels our story onward into its next stage. Oh well, even the greatest hero sometimes needs a little extra help to get the ball rolling.  
  
"THE SECRETS OF CONTROL – NABIKI'S PLAN"  
  
A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by GundamAce  
  
Part I-B of the Lemon/Lime continuity  
  
(Insert Theme Music of Choice Here)  
  
Our hero found himself in the guest bedroom of the Tendo estate in somewhat of a panic. Drawers had been emptied onto the floor, furniture had been overturned, and absolutely everything had been poked, prodded through, or examined by the young martial artist in his fevered search, but, no matter how much he looked, his efforts yielded nothing. The infamous book was missing.  
  
"Looking for this, Casanova?" Nabiki smirked.  
  
Ranma froze at the voice coming from behind him. He wasn't really sure what a Casanova was, but he was relatively certain what he'd find in his future sister-in-law's hand when he turned around. Sure enough, as he turned slowly to face his greatest fears, he saw Kasumi's book.  
  
"Oh boy…" Ranma muttered. Why her? Why did it have to be her?! The local protégé of the Anything Goes school gathered his wits and attempted to respond. "How much is it gonna' cost me to keep all of this a secret?"  
  
"It's not going to cost you a single yen". Nabiki smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile, but rather the kind of smile that sharks seem to perpetually wear.  
  
"Huh?" This was odd, Ranma thought. She has me right where she wants me. Why doesn't she go in for the kill?  
  
"You couldn't afford it. Neither could anyone else."  
  
"So you're just gonna' give it back then?" he asked carefully. Ranma was weary. This was Nabiki. She had to want something.  
  
"Not quite. There's a story behind this book, and I want it," Nabiki said as she finally entered the room completely and closed the door behind her. "Spill it, Ranma. Where'd you get this and who's it for?"  
  
"Who's it…? Now wait a minute! That's none of your business!" Ranma screeched indignantly. The aggravation that Nabiki was causing, coupled with the embarrassment of his discovery as well as the adrenalin rush that the books loss had induced, was beginning to show through.  
  
"Fine," Nabiki answered calmly. "I'll just pass this along to Akane then."  
  
"NO! Wait!" Anger turned to fear faster than Ranma could have ever possibly imagined it could. "Okay… you win… thebookiskasumi's, " he said in a soft voice.  
  
There was a moment of silence following the revelation. A cricked could be heard chirping in the background. Nabiki blinked a few times to snap herself out of the strange taboo. "Come again?"  
  
Ranma took a deep breath and consigned himself to his fate. "I said the book is Kasumi's."  
  
"Kasumi's?" Nabiki questioned as she gawked at the boy in front of her. "You expect me to believe that?"  
  
"Would I make something like that up? Even I'm a better liar than that!"  
  
"You… you're not kidding, are you?" the girl asked in a state of genuine shock, perhaps for the first time in her life.  
  
"No," Ranma answered quietly. The weight of his confession was pressing heavily upon him.  
  
"I can't believe it…" Nabiki muttered under her breath. "They say it's always the quiet ones, but…"  
  
"Can I have the book back now?" Ranma asked in a defeated tone.  
  
Nabiki broke out of her trance and looked at Ranma as she considered his question. "No," she finally answered in a flat and even voice.  
  
"What?!" The boy practically yelled in confusion. "But you…! But… but… but… you said… but" he continued to stammer on with no sign of stopping in the near future.  
  
"Cut it out Ranma, you sound like a motorboat," Nabiki interrupted. "Besides, you haven't told me what you're doing with this thing yet."  
  
"I aint doing nothing but readin' it!" the pigtailed youth replied hotly as he geared himself up for a long verbal assault.  
  
"Really?" Nabiki commented idly. "What a shame. I think she'd actually have gone for it," she lamented seemingly oblivious to the riled up young martial artist before her.  
  
"Look, I said it aint none of…" Ranma began, having not quite processed what his intended target had said yet. He was halfway through his sentence when Nabiki's words finally dawned on him. "Wha…?"  
  
Nabiki smiled, seeing that she now had her favorite victim's attention. It was time to have a little fun. "I think if you played your cards right, my little sister might just go for it," she said as she put on her most innocent expression.  
  
"You… you think?"  
  
"Well, I'm no expert, but she HAS been my sister for sixteen years." Nabiki couldn't help but smile. Toying with little sister and her boyfriend was so much fun.  
  
"Um… So… You think I should…" Ranma began to stammer as images of a scantily clad Akane began to dance through his imagination.  
  
Nabiki noted the small drops of blood trickling out of her companion's nose and decided to put her game face back on before he thought of something really good and lost consciousness. "Look Don Juan, I'm feeling kind of generous, so I'm gonna help you out."  
  
"Huh?" Ranma asked, having missed what Nabiki had said in favor of indulging in a rather nice fantasy featuring a very naked and very submissive Akane.  
  
"I said I'm going to help."  
  
"But… but why?" Ranma asked confused. "I mean, not that I'm complaining or nothing, but what do you get out of it?"  
  
Nabiki's smile sprang back up as she imagined all that she could gain from such an interesting shift in the local dynamics. "If I'm lucky, a video tape, but I think I could snag a few rolls of film at least. Besides, it should keep the betting pools interesting for years to come," she answered honestly.  
  
Ranma sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he lamented.  
  
"Shut up and listen," Nabiki commanded as she dragged her new project over to what remained of a chair and placed him in it. "This is what you gotta do…"  
  
And so the pair plotted and planned. Or at least Nabiki plotted and planned while Ranma listened and debated with himself internally. A few hours later Nabiki left a very confused and somewhat bedraggled Ranma to collect his composure.  
  
* * *  
  
The rest of the night passed without much fanfare. It could be noted that Ranma was a little bit quieter than normal, and he was without the book, which was strange. All in all though, the quiet was a welcome change for the Tendo/Saotome families. Perhaps our hero would have enjoyed it more if his thoughts weren't drifting between apprehension at Nabiki's motives and fantasies featuring a strangely submissive Akane.  
  
Eventually the boy's dilemma became too much for him to handle alone, and he found himself standing before the door belonging to the eldest Tendo sister. She had to be told that Nabiki now knew of the book, he figured. It probably wouldn't hurt to get some advice while he was there too. Steadying himself in an effort to seem casual, Ranma knocked on the door before him.  
  
"Yes?" The passage opened slightly to reveal a broadly smiling Kasumi. "Oh! Ranma! We were just going to go looking for you."  
  
Ranma barely heard the greeting before he started his carefully prepared speech. "Kasumi. I need to talk with ya. It's improt… We?"  
  
"Come on in, lover boy," a distinctly un Kasumi like voice purred. The door opened a little bit more to reveal a smirking Nabiki.  
  
"Oh man."  
  
"I think you'd better come in," Kasumi said as she moved to admit the pigtailed youth.  
  
Ranma moved into the room and closed the door behind himself before turning to address his hostess. "Kasumi, I'm sorry. She…"  
  
"I know. She told me. It's all right," Kasumi cut in with a smile.  
  
"Well, now that we're all here maybe we can get down to business!" Nabiki stated in an attempt to draw the focus of the other two occupants of the room.  
  
Ranma turned an unbelieving gaze to Nabiki. "You brought Kasumi in on this?"  
  
"Why not?" Nabiki asked as she moved to Kasumi's desk to have a seat. "She is the resident expert after all."  
  
"I don't believe this." Ranma grumbled as Kasumi all but dragged him to the bed to have a seat. Looking around the room, Ranma couldn't help but think that he'd stumbled into one of those sleepovers that girls seem to love so much. Nabiki was clad in a pair of sweat pants and an oversized tee-shirt while Kasumi wore a rather warm and fuzzy looking pink flannel nightgown. Both of the girls had rather mischievous smiles on and, for a moment, Ranma was afraid they'd dump some cold water on him and try to give him a make-over while they grilled him for embarrassing information about his sex life… or lack thereof.  
  
" It'll be all right Ranma," Kasumi smiled sweetly. "Nabiki and I have been discussing your new… um… oh! What did you call it Nabiki?"  
  
"Training exercises."  
  
Ranma felt relief wash over him as they came to a familiar topic. Martial Arts were way easier to discuss than the stuff in that book he'd been reading. Still, though, he felt a bit of confusion at the strange topic. "Training? You mean this isn't about…"  
  
"Oh, it's not what you think Casanova. Kasumi and I have been trying to think of ways to train you to be a better… um… 'master' for our little sister," Nabiki interrupted.  
  
"What?! Why the hell would I want to train for something like that! It's hard enough just tryin' to talk about it!" Ranma exploded as he tried to stand. Fortunately Kasumi was nearby to pull him back into his seat.  
  
"You didn't think you could just up and do that kind of stuff, did you?" Nabiki asked with a bit of a 'what kind of a moron are you' inflection that always seemed to take the wind right out of Ranma's sails.  
  
"Well… I never really thought… That is…" Ranma stammered on in embarrassment.  
  
"Nabiki is right," Kasumi finally interjected. Her face lost its mirthful smile for a moment as she tried to express the seriousness of the topic. "What the two of you are proposing… It could really hurt Akane if you don't know exactly what you're doing."  
  
Ranma couldn't even begin to respond to that. A serious Kasumi was never something to be taken lightly. If she thought Ranma needed to train for this, then he probably did. That didn't mean that he didn't find it terribly humiliating though. For a long moment all that the boy could do was look at the floor and blush.  
  
Finally it was Nabiki who broke the strange silence. "Look, Ranma. You've had your nose buried in that book for the past week. You know this isn't just about sex. You're going to need to change you're whole outlook on life to keep from doing serious emotional damage to our sister," she charged.  
  
"You have to realize, Ranma, that, if this works, you're going to be taking away her ability to defend herself from you," Kasumi added in support. "She'll be very vulnerable, and if you can't earn her trust…"  
  
"Which means we gotta teach you to control that dreaded foot-in-mouth problem you have," Nabiki finished.  
  
"Hay! I can control myself!" Ranma huffed. "I AM a martial artist ya know!" he concluded in a manner that sounded vaguely familiar to everyone in the room for some reason.  
  
"That's all well and good if you wanna beat her up, but I don't think that's the relationship you had in mind," Nabiki countered.  
  
Ranma could only growl in irritation at her remark. Verbal battles were never the martial artist's strong point, and even he had to admit that he tended to speak without though. He didn't have to like it though.  
  
Kasumi turned the sour looking young man to face her so that she could lecture him in a somewhat more friendly and tactful manner. "Try and think of it this way Ranma," she started. "Imagine you're supposed to take care of a big dog for someone. The dog doesn't really like people too much, and it has a tendency to bite when provoked."  
  
"Are you calling Akane a dog?" Ranma asked in genuine confusion.  
  
His two coconspirators picked themselves up from their mutual face planting.  
  
"It's an analogy, genius!" Nabiki barked with unusual ire.  
  
Once again Ranma seemed to find the ground very interesting. His hand went up to scratch the base of his pigtail and his face flushed yet again. "Oh, right…"  
  
"Anyway," Kasumi continued after recovering, "you don't want to provoke the dog, but you have to be able to get close enough to feed it, and take it for walks, and give it it's bath…"  
  
"Bath?" At the mention of bathing a panicked look painted itself across Ranma's face. He'd had some rather difficult moments associated with that particular activity; particularly where his fiancée was concerned. "Uh… I don't know about…"  
  
"Ranma, shut up." Nabiki commanded.  
  
Once the boy calmed himself Kasumi continued. "The point is you have to get the dog to like you before it'll become a faithful pet, and it won't do that if you're constantly molesting it."  
  
"Molesting? You want me to…" The rest of the sentence was lost as it was delivered directly to the floorboards.  
  
"Didn't I just tell you to shut up?" Nabiki asked irritably. Her hands were still extended from pushing her rather dense future brother-in- law off the bed.  
  
Ranma mumbled his apology into the floor and then pushed himself back up to a sitting position so he could continue the rather confusing conversation.  
  
"What I'm trying to say, Ranma, is that you have to provide a lot of positive reinforcement. You know, compliments and such, if you want to get Akane to accept her role." Kasumi finally concluded.  
  
Fortunately that part of the discussion actually did make sense to the confused young man. "Yeah, I know," He answered. "I did read the book, ya know."  
  
"The point of all this is that you don't know thing one about how to treat a girl nicely." Nabiki interjected with a little bit of venom. The utter cluelessness of the boy was beginning to make her wonder if this whole project was worth the headache she was going to have.  
  
"That's not true Nabiki!" Kasumi chided her sister on behalf of the boy. "He just needs to think a little bit more before he acts… or talks… or breaths… or…"  
  
"I get the point!" Ranma hotly interrupted. He too was beginning to wonder if all this was worth it.  
  
"Anyway, Nabiki and I have come up with a training regiment that should get you under control of yourself."  
  
"Either that or get you killed," Nabiki grumbled under her breath. "Either way, the problem is solved."  
  
Ranma looked to the smiling Kasumi and the irritated Nabiki and was suddenly filled with a complete and utter sense of dread. "Why do I get the impression I'm not going to like this?"  
  
Nabiki smiled wickedly. "You're not. Tell him Kasumi."  
  
"Oh Ranma," Kasumi beamed. "I just know you'll love your new jobs!"  
  
* * *  
  
Sometime the next afternoon a female Ranma was mumbling to herself while sitting on the employee's side of the make-up counter at the Nermia Mall.  
  
"Stupid customers."  
  
This was one of her 'jobs'. In fact, of the three she had gone to already today, this was the best.  
  
"Stupid Nabiki."  
  
The position at the local Victoria's Secret seemed to be a personal hell designed just for her, and the hours she'd spent manning the desk at Kasumi's favorite adult novelty shop had been more hazardous to her health than the time Shampoo was trying to kill her back in China.  
  
"Stupid jobs."  
  
She already has several large bumps on her head and a black eye.  
  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid."  
  
It was going to be a long day for Ranma Saotome.  
  
* * *  
  
It was late at night when Ranma finally stumbled back into the house. Most of the lights were already turned out for the night, but a rather upset young girl was waiting in the kitchen for the wayward boy. She had lovingly destroyed most of said room some time ago in an attempt to create something nice for him, but he hadn't shown up for dinner.  
  
A few hours ago she'd planned to give the jerk a piece of her mind when he finally decided to come in, but, as the hours passed on, her anger grew into concern for the boy's well being. Strangely enough, when the door finally opened, she found that the emotion welling up inside her was more akin to relief than to fury.  
  
"Ranma!" the girl cried out as she ran into the living room and switched on the light. "Where have you been? You missed dinner! Have you been…" She stopped. Before her was a mass of bruises with a mop of red hair. The injured creature hobbled, with great difficulty, a few more paces into the room. "Oh my God!"  
  
"A-Akane?" the lump of battered flesh formerly known as Ranma called out. With two swollen black eyes, she was obviously having great difficulty identifying the person before her. The identification cease to be a concern, however, as the wounded girl's legs finally gave out, dumping her onto the sofa.  
  
"R-Ranma?" The youngest Tendo called out as she rushed to the collapsed mass. "Are you okay? What happened!?"  
  
"…hate… hate new… j-job…" the form mumbled into the cushion of the couch as it desperately tried to hang on to consciousness.  
  
"Daddy! Kasumi! Come quickly! Ranma's been hurt!" Akane called out as she fell to her knees before the wounded girl. She tentatively reached out a hand to examine the prone form, but could find no place undamaged enough to manipulate without possibly aggravating the injuries further.  
  
During the young girls search, Kasumi entered the room to see what the fuss was about. "Father's out with Mr. Saotome at the moment, what's the… Oh my!" Kasumi practically flew down the rest of the stairs to help Akane examine the young gender challenged teen for serious injury. "Ranma? Are you okay?"  
  
"…Must kill Nabiki…" The injured martial artist managed to murmur before finally deciding that she was long overdue for a nap.  
  
"Oh… oh dear…" Kasumi lamented as she gently turned Ranma to a more comfortable resting position.  
  
Akane stopped her own fretting for a moment in confusion. "Nabiki? What's Nabiki got to do with this?"  
  
"Oh! Um… They had a silly little bet! Ranma lost," Kasumi answered lamely as she continued to probe the extent of Ranma's injuries.  
  
Akane was livid! How dare anyone hurt her Ranma! "What did she do to him!? Where is she!? When I get my hands on her…"  
  
"Now Akane!" Kasumi scolded in an effort to curb her youngest sister's anger. "It was nothing at all that bad. Ranma just has to hold a few jobs at the mall for a little while."  
  
"A few jobs?"  
  
"Yes," Kasumi answered simply. "Only three or four I think."  
  
"What kind of job leaves someone looking like they've seen World War Three!?" the young girl demanded incredulously.  
  
"It's not the job, Akane," Nabiki commented from the top of the stairs. "It's the employee."  
  
The irate Akane turned swiftly to face her sister, who was casually walking down the stairs. "What?" she asked in a frustrated huff. "I don't get it."  
  
Nabiki completed her decent and continued to the hall closet, not even seeming to notice the presence of the much abused hero of our story. "Let's just say he's in sales," she replied cryptically as she proceeded to don her jacket.  
  
"What kind of sales?" Akane grumbled angrily as she glared at the middle Tendo daughter.  
  
"Dresses, Undergarments, make-up, that sort of thing." Nabiki answered with a shrug of her shoulders.  
  
"Nabiki! How could you?" the youngest demanded furiously. "You know he hates that kind of thing!"  
  
"Well then, I guess he shouldn't have made the bet," Nabiki smirked as she headed for the door.  
  
Akane gazed off into space for a moment as she contemplated Nabiki's answer. Finally she seemed to reach some sort of internal consensus. "Ranma, you idiot."  
  
"Anyway, I have places to go tonight. Don't worry too much Akane. He'll survive," Nabiki offered in parting as she stepped through the door.  
  
"Well, I guess that pretty much explains everything," Kasumi chimed in after completing her evaluation of Ranma's health. "Akane, would you be a dear and help poor Ranma to his room?"  
  
"…okay," Akane responded dumbly as she continued to gaze off in the direction Nabiki had just left. Apparently she was still trying to assess how she felt about all of this.  
  
Her response seemed good enough for Kasumi though. The eldest sister picked herself up off the floor and headed back off to her room. She did offer a simple "Thank you," as she left though.  
  
Akane, for her part, came out of her little reverie to find herself and her unconscious betrothed the only ones left in the room. She glanced back down at the woman she was supposed to one day marry, and, for just a moment, a tender smile seemed to grace her features. She hid it quickly though, lest it be discovered.  
  
* * *  
  
Well, that's it for part 1-b. You may have noticed that the rating of this fanfic has shifted from NC-17 to R. Upon my last examination of the story's outline, I found that it would be quite some time before I got to the actual sex, which will be in part 3 or 4 most likely. I decided that, while I'm going to have a good number of highly suggestive and erotic moments between now and then, I could probably get away with an R rating. If anyone ever happens to disagree with the R rating, just let me know and I'll change it back.  
  
For those of you who were looking for good sex scenes, I'll get to them eventually, I promise. Until then, enjoy the ride. 


	3. An Evening Out

NOTICE: None of these characters belong to me and I haven't made a single cent by writing this story! I have no money, don't sue me!

NOTICE II: If you're offended by sex, bondage, sadism, masochism, dominance, or submission, then you don't know what you're missing! You also shouldn't be reading this story!

Ranma, despite his better judgment, continued the training regiment that Nabiki and Kasumi had set out for him. As the days passed by he learned progressively more about what women talked about among themselves. He also learned, mostly through trial and error, what not to say in the presence of the fairer gender. Working at the 'novelty shop' Kasumi recommended did a great job of curing the poor boy of his incredible prudishness as well. That's not to say that our hero didn't stammer and blush every time someone bought a vibrator or a set of edible panties from him, but at least now he knew such things existed, and, thanks to some of the more talkative customers, how they were used. By the end of the week Ranma was even capable of coming home without a scratch on him, barring the ones he received from his regular rivals of course.

He imagined that he might even be enjoying the work he was doing if Nabiki hadn't been holding onto all the money he was supposedly making. Nabiki said he'd get it back when Kasumi thought he was ready though, so he didn't mind too much. It was only money after all, and Ranma rarely needed it for anything more than paying off Nabiki anyway.

By the second week, Ranma had a comfortable pattern down. Sell underwear from the time school let out to the time dinner was served, sell makeup from the time dinner was finished to the time the sun went down, and then sell sex toys from the time the sun went down until it was time for bed. That pattern, however, was about to change. By Thursday evening Kasumi had decided Ranma was ready to move on to the next stage of his training. Friday night would be an evening long remembered by our hero as the night his life finally came into focus.

"THE SECRETS OF CONTROL – AN EVENING OUT"

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by GundamAce

Part I-C of the Lemon/Lime continuity

(Insert Theme Music of Choice Here)

On Friday afternoon a young and very unaware Ranma-chan walked into the Victoria's Secret in the Nermia mall for another hard day at work. She was just putting her jacket up behind the counter when her manager walked in and gave her a puzzled look.

"Hay Ranma. I didn't think you were coming in today?" the older woman greeted in confusion.

"Huh?" Ranma responded intelligently. "Why wouldn't I? I do work here, don't I?"

"Yeah, but you weren't scheduled for a shift today," Ranma's employer answered.

"That's strange," a perplexed Ranma mused aloud. "I could have sworn Nabiki said…"

"I did." The voice of the woman in question piped in from behind. Ranma quickly turned to see the two oldest Tendo sisters standing in the doorway of her little shop. Nabiki was smiling the devil's grin and Kasumi had a kettle in her hands. "We needed to get you out of the house," Nabiki continued.

"Hello Ranma. How's the training coming along?" Kasumi offered in polite greeting.

"…fine, I guess," Ranma-chan mumbled as she took the offered kettle. A quick splash later and she was a he again. "Now, what's all this about getting out of the house?"

"It's time for some advanced training!" Nabiki exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Why do feel I'm not going to like this?" Ranma questioned as he wearily eyed the madly grinning Nabiki.

"I couldn't imagine," Kasumi replied innocently enough. Somehow that only served to further trigger Ranma's keen danger sense.

"Anyway, before the special training begins, we need to do something about your wardrobe." Nabiki stated, once again drawing the attention of the now highly suspicious martial artist.

"What's wrong with the one I got?" he asked carefully, hoping for some hint to his fate.

"Oh, nothing's wrong with it." Kasumi responded in a somewhat disarming manner. "We just thought it might help you stay in character a bit to have a costume."

"In character?"

At Ranma's question Nabiki held up the all too familiar book and gestured to it with a nod of her head. "Yeah. You know? In character," she said with a broadening smile.

"Ah…" Ranma apparently didn't know how to take this turn of events, so he chose to do what his recent training had taught him to do in such situations. He shut up so that he could listen better.

"Oh this is going to be so fun!" Kasumi proclaimed as she grabbed hold of Ranma's arm and began dragging him out into the mall. "Let's go Ranma!"

* * *

The next few hours were spent hopping from store to store playing dress up with Ranma. The poor boy was dressed in everything from silk to leather in an effort to find a look that was, to quote Nabiki, "bad ass". Skull caps, chain belts, chaps, vests, gloves, and even a pair of speedos went into the dressing room with our hero as his two lady friends tried to agree on the perfect look.

Eventually Ranma walked out of the dressing room in a black lace up poet's shirt and his black slacks. Kasumi looked him over and finally decided to do away with the laces on the shirt, exposing Ranma's chest to the navel. Ranma wasn't certain, but he thought perhaps the older girl's hands lingered a bit longer than they needed to on the soft fabric of the thin shirt. Kasumi stepped away with the slight trace of a blush on her cheeks and a large grin on her face.

Nabiki stepped in next to do her own work on the piece. She tried several accessories that she seemed completely unsatisfied with before she stumbled on a red silk sash that she tied around his waste. That addition seemed to satisfy her.

Once they were happy with their adjustments, both women stepped back to admire their handy work. "It's perfect!" Kasumi declared.

"I don't know," Nabiki remarked idly. "It looks a little too… dark." She stepped back a bit more to take a better look at the whole outfit.

"Ridiculous!" Kasumi gushed. "It's just flawless!" Nabiki took note of the fact that her sister was spending a little bit more time gazing at the boy's rather muscular chest than she was at his stylin' threads. She shrugged it off quickly though. After all, it was a rather nice chest, and there was no harm in looking, right?

Ranma turned to face the dressing room mirror. He spent a few minutes adjusting and smoothing the fabric with a doubtful look on his face. "I feel like Zorro," he finally declared.

"Yeah, that's a pretty accurate description," Nabiki was forced to agree. Kasumi wouldn't let their distaste for the color ruin her good mood though.

"It'll be just perfect for tonight!" she beamed.

Ranma made a few final efforts to pick over the outfit, but could find no argument against it that warranted robbing Kasumi of her blissful smile. "Tonight?" he finally asked, wondering what other horrors he'd be forced to endure that day. Trying on that speedo had rattled him enough already.

"Kasumi and I are taking you out for a 'test run'," Nabiki answered with a sly grin.

A little bit of apprehension found its way to Ranma's face as he glanced at the two sisters. "Out? Out where?"

"A little night spot Kasumi knows," Nabiki supplied conspiratorially.

"I just know you'll love it, Ranma!" the still giddy Kasumi added as she allowed her eyes to pass over her future brother-in-law one last time. Suddenly her smile left her, and she found she had to look away from the boy. "Maybe you and Akane can go together sometime…"

Ranma noted Kasumi's cheer lessen as the last sentence left her lips. For some reason the older girl's sudden wistfulness seemed to softly brush at the edge of his danger senses. "Uh, sure," he supplied, for some unknown reason momentarily embarrassed. "So, ah, what is this place?" He asked, trying to gently shift the topic of conversation.

"It's called 'The Inferno'," Nabiki supplied. She too had caught the sudden shift in the atmosphere, but she felt it best not to comment on it at the moment. "It's sort of like an exotic nightclub," she explained.

The sudden reminder of their destination seemed to snap Kasumi out of her reverie, and she was quickly smiling once again. Everyone could tell it was a little more forced than the one she previously wore, but they all let it slide. The party made their way to the cashier, talking amiably amongst themselves all the way. By the time they left the mall the strange incident was largely forgotten.

* * *

It was dark... sort of. There were occasional bursts of colored light that would sweep overhead from hanging disco balls and strobes, but that light wasn't really useful so much as it was distracting. And the music was too loud. Of course, that was hard to tell over the noise of the crowd, but the powerful bass that swept its way through the room served to remind all present that the band was still playing. Yes, it was dark and loud… and it smelled funny too, Ranma noticed. There was tobacco smoke in the room that was mixing with something else… Some sort of a sweet, thick kind of sent that touched on some primitive instinct.

Slowly our hero's senses grew acclimated to this strange new environment. When our Dom in training finally did get a good look at the room, he found the sensory input had somewhat the same effect as Akane's mallet. In other words, he was stunned into a complete and utter stupor.

There were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of people crammed into the dark, pulsating chamber. Most of them were in various stages of undress that broke all rules of social decency. Some were dancing, others were sitting and enjoying the shows around them, and a few were engaged in processes so extreme that some married couples wouldn't try them the privacy of their own bedrooms.

The source of the smell became disgustingly apparent as Ranma's eyes focused. Sweat. It was everywhere. It covered everything… the people… the furniture… the floor. It mixed with alcohol, and blood, and… other natural fluids… The air itself tasted of forbidden things.

Our hero summoned all the power he could find remaining within himself to regain control of his mouth for a moment, just so he could try and put to words the shear force and scope of the spectacle before him. In a single breath he managed to utter fourth the only fitting description he could fathom. "Oh my…"

"This is quite the hang out you have, sis," Nabiki said. Obviously she didn't find the view nearly as overpowering as her future brother-in-law did.

"Isn't it great!" Kasumi gushed with pride as she inhaled deeply the rich aroma of the room and let the atmosphere consume her for a short moment.

"…Oh my…" Ranma stuttered again, still gazing off into the sea of flesh. Nabiki turned to him and waved her hand before his unblinking face a few times to see if she could break him from the crowd's hypnotic spell.

"I told you he'd snap before we got a table," she smiled as she turned back to Kasumi. "That's 5,000 yen, Sis!"

"…Oh my…" Ranma chimed again as if to prove Nabiki's point.

Kasumi fretted a bit as she pulled a sum of bills from her purse. "Oh dear. I had really hoped he'd be better prepared for this."

"Kasumi, this is Ranma we're talking about, here."

"But he's been doing so well!"

"I know," the younger Tendo answered with a broad grin. "But old inhibitions die hard."

It was at that moment that one of the lovely young waitresses that were so popular at this club walked up to the unusual party.

"Master, Mistresses, It's my distinct honor to welcome you to the Inferno. I hope I can serve you well," she announced as she bowed her head to the group.

"Why hello Yuri! How have you been?" Kasumi beamed as she affectionately patted the shorter girl on the top of her bowed head.

"Very well, Mistress Kasumi, thank you for asking."

"Good! I'd like to introduce you to my sister Nabiki…"

To Nabiki's credit, she did muster up a "Hi," as she stared dumbly at the busty little waitress to whom her Sister had begun to cling. It was better than most of the people who thought they knew Kasumi could have done.

"…And Master Ranma," the elder Sister continued, seemingly uncaring of her younger sibling's gawking.

Realizing that someone had approached, Ranma managed to divert his attention from the crowd, only to have it refocus on the girl whose backside Kasumi was now gently caressing in what was apparently a subconscious way.

The waitress was just barely above five feet in height, with short, dark hair that seemed to explode in every direction. She was wearing an un-functionally tiny little black apron and a thin strap of leather around her neck, and that was about it as far as Ranma could tell. The boy also noticed, in a sort of detached way, that the girl was clearly having difficulty remaining in her submissive position with Kasumi running her hands all over the girl's bottom like that.

"…Oh my…" he choked out yet again.

"It's an honor to serve you both," Yuri pressed on as best she could with what was obviously a prepared greeting. "May I show you to your table now?" she gasped as Kasumi's wandering hand dipped into someplace nobody else in the party really expected it would go.

"That would be lovely, Yuri, thank you," The elder Tendo answered as she absently licked the tips of her now free fingers clean.

The party made its way up a set of stairs against the inside wall and towards a table near the back of a quieter loft area. Nabiki kept her disbelieving stare locked on her elder sister the whole way there. Ranma's gaze only served to confirm his suspicion that the apron was indeed the only thing their waitress was wearing.

* * *

"Your usual table, Mistress Kasumi," Yuri said as she gestured to the little corner booth.

The three guests took their seats and began to settle in as Yuri kneeled next to Kasumi with her head once again falling to a submissive position. It was apparent that her actions were unnerving the two youngest members of the group, but Mistress Kasumi seemed content enough with the situation, and that was all that was important… at least as far as Yuri was concerned. "How may I serve you tonight?" she asked softly.

"I think drinks will be sufficient for now, dear." Kasumi replied as she gently ran her fingers through the pretty waitress's hair. "How about a kettle of tea?"

"Yes Mistress. Will that be all?"

Nabiki, noticing that it was time to order, shook herself out of her stunned state to try and take advantage of the situation. "Actually, I'd like…"

"Yes. That will be all. Thank you." Kasumi interrupted in a very stern and un-Kasumi-like way.

Bowing her head to the sticky floor, Yuri whispered a "Yes Mistress," and then scampered back towards what must have been the kitchen. In the mean time Nabiki tried to assess the change in her sister and Ranma started to blink himself back to reality.

"…Uh… Kasumi?" The boy finally managed.

"Looks like his brain just rebooted," Nabiki quipped with an amused grin.

Ignoring Nabiki, Kasumi assumed her most peaceful demeanor and addressed the struggling young man. "Yes Ranma?"

"Wha… what is this place?"

Kasumi thought over the most tactful way to answer the question. "It's a nightclub of sorts…"

"It's a BDSM club, Ranma," Nabiki supplied. Screw tact. It didn't seem very effective or very appropriate in this environment.

"Oh." Ranma thought for a minute, assessing the current situation. All in all it wasn't so bad once you got used to it. True, the bass from the music made his stomach do flip flops. True the smell of smoke and… um… other stuff took some getting used to. But all in all, it wasn't as bad as it could be. That's what really bugged Ranma. There had to be more. "Uh, why'd you bring me here?"

"Nabiki and I decided you needed to… um… 'toughen up' before your big day tomorrow." The resident Mistress responded with a smile.

"Kasumi thought this was the perfect place to teach you how to hit a girl," Nabiki helpfully filled in.

"HIT A GIRL!!? Are you nuts!?"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't so helpful really. "That's what all this has been about, isn't it?" Kasumi, the absolute picture of calm and poise, asked.

"Yeah, Ranma, lighten up." Nabiki interjected. "It's not like Akane hasn't been asking you to do it, ya know."

"Uh… Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the effort or nothing, but I don't think I can do this…" Ranma stammered.

"That's exactly the quality that makes you a good Master." The eldest Tendo daughter continued with great seriousness.

At this statement both her companions gave her a somewhat lost look.

Kasumi sighed at the ignorance of youth and went on to elaborate. "Your restraint and personal control makes you acceptable for this role. That's why I agreed to help."

"I don't get it?" Ranma answered after a moment of silent contemplation.

"Yeah…" Nabiki agreed. "Isn't a master supposed to get off on hitting his slave?"

"Sometimes hitting yes," Kasumi went on. "Hurting no. Never hurting."

Ranma shook his head. "I still don't get it."

"It's hard to explain," Kasumi continued. "Let Me try explaining it like this… You're a martial artist, right Ranma?"

"This isn't going to be another one of those allergy things again, is it?" The pigtailed youth pleaded.

"That's analogy you moron!" Nabiki seethed. This whole project was starting to make her head hurt. She hated not understanding anything.

Kasumi continued as though she hadn't even been interrupted. "Have you ever felt physical pain when practicing?"

"Sure, all the time. Goes with the territory."

"If it hurts, why do you do it?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, I guess it doesn't hurt that bad most of the time, besides, it's worth it."

"For the submissive, it's the same way," She went on. "Physical pain is part of a formula that leads to a greater pleasure. Eventually the sensations of pain are even anticipated and enjoyed, kind of like how I imagine you must feel when you come home from a good fight. You're covered from head to toe in scratches, cuts, and bruises, but you're always full of energy and grinning from ear to ear."

Ranma stopped and thought for a moment. "Oh… I think I get it."

"Right, well I'm glad you do at least," Nabiki blandly stated.

"That's why it's important for the dominant to have good control then. In order to keep the submissive from really getting hurt?" the boy questioned as various ideas and concepts finally started to fall into place.

"Exactly!" Kasumi exclaimed brightly. "That's why you're here instead of Akane. She has virtually no control of herself."

"Her temper you mean?"

"Yes. That's why you have to be the dominant one."

"I still don't see why we need to do this. Can't we both be equal or something?" Ranma pleaded.

Kasumi smiled gently at her new student. "Ranma, I don't know if you've noticed, but Akane lives to make you happy."

"How can you say that?!" Ranma all but exploded at the thought. "She's always hitting me and calling me names and trying to poison me and stuff!"

The impromptu teacher shook her had at the simple follies of her student's logic. Ranma had this amazing way of not seeing what was right in front of him when it came to Akane. Oh well, nothing to do but spell it out for the poor boy. "Akane works hard to cook for you, or become a great martial artist for you, because she wants you to be happy with her. That's why she's so upset when you insult her. She feels like she's failed you and it breaks her heart."

"You think?" Ranma seemed to be having a great deal of difficulty with that particular world view.

"It does make sense." Nibiki interjected.

"Ranma," Kasumi continued, "Akane needs ground rules. She needs you to spell out for her exactly what she needs to do to make you happy, otherwise she's going to keep getting hurt."

"So? I could just tell her she makes me happy the way she is, couldn't I?"

"That certainly would help." Kasumi looked hard at the young man, hoping he'd finally appreciate the significance of what he'd just admitted.

"Fine! So I don't need to hit nobody then! Let's get outta here!" Ranma pushed himself away from the table, stood, and turned to leave. He probably should have realized it wasn't going to be that easy, but then again, this is Ranma we're talking about.

"Ranma! Sit!" The weight of the command, given by the normally docile and friendly Kasumi, was staggering. Ranma's head whipped back around, bug eyed, to stare at the eldest Tendo. In fact, pretty much every head on the upper landing turned towards the secluded and usually very private corner booth.

It took a few moments for the weight of all those questioning stares to penetrate our hero's shock, but when it did he at least had the good grace to blush. "Uh… Heh heh…" Ranma laughed sickly as he slowly reclaimed his seat, doing his best to ignore the collective attention of the rest of the room.

Silence reigned at the table for a short time as Kasumi waited for privacy to return to the little booth. Finally, when she was satisfied that their conversation was once again private, she continued. "Ranma, why did you borrow the book?"

For a moment all the boy being questioned could do was stutter and scratch the base of his pigtail, but the hard stare of the older girl would not abate.

"Ranma, why?" she asked again, unperturbed by the martial artist's discomfort.

"I donno…"

"Yes you do. Tell me."

Again the boy began to stutter, his face flushing brilliant red as he tried to find a safe place to avert his eyes to. The club wasn't giving him many options on that front.

"Just say it Ranma." Kasumi's patience, inexhaustible as it may sometimes seem to be, was beginning to reach its limit. Her fingers were drumming the table and the stare she had been leveling at the boy had turned into an outright glare.

"Do I gotta?"

"Ranma, tell me NOW!" the erstwhile homebody snapped as her hands came crashing down on the table.

"Fine! I thought it was kinna exciting!" The boy shouted back. "There! I said it! You happy now?!"

Silence reigned for a few moments as the crowd nearby once again turned to the back table in curiosity. The pigtailed youth was practically radiating irritation and discontent. Kasumi, the unorthodox focus of said discontent, was desperately trying to reign in her own frustrations. Oddly enough, it seemed the middle Tendo sister was shocked into silence by the unexpected display. It was a taboo rarely witnessed in Nermia and thankfully most of the local patrons decided they would rather not be involved. Privacy returned quickly to the secluded booth.

Finishing her calming breath, Kasumi mustered up all the compassion and understanding she could pump into her voice. "Ranma, Akane needs this. She's already your slave. Her whole existence revolves around making you happy."

With the soothing balm of Kasumi's voice, Ranma found his own center. He sank back into his chair, the fight leaving him. "Yeah, but hitting her… Are you sure she wants that?"

"Like Nabiki said… She's been asking you to for quite some time now."

"In training!" The boy countered, "While we're sparing! While she can fight back!"

"She finds the prospect of you proving your dominance exciting. Now I'm not saying she wants you to rush into her room tomorrow night, tie her up, and start wailing on her backside with a riding crop, but I do think she might eventually come to really enjoy those sorts of things if you come to them in the proper time. I also think that you'd enjoy doing it if you knew she was happy that way."

"If you say so." There was a clear ring of doubt in the boy's voice, but he could find no fault with Kasumi's argument for the moment.

* * *

Author's Notes - This chapter isn't finished, but I figured I better release what I've got before it sits on my harddrive untouched for another five years.


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